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I recently switched the inner workings of my computer from a Sriker Extreme, X8000 CPU and an 8800 GTX, to the Gigabyte GA-EX38T-DQ6, with an Asus HD 3870 X2 1gb (and I was about to add another in crossfireX, until I found out AMD was rolling out the 4000's series X2 early, actually possibly in Q3 of this year). If I had known, which is the story of my life and computers, that a newer chipset was coming out so soon, I would have waited for the 48T. The funny thing is that ever since I studied coomputer progaramming in college in the 70's, and began building my own computers when costs became parctical to do so, I suscribe to all the industry news but always miss something big.

Oh well I can say that the 38T, since it was designed aroung quad core, including the extremes, instead of relying on BIOS updates to recoginize and work with critical hardware, such as the 680i in my old Striker Extreme was doing (I had the QX6850 in int for a time)in and of itself made an ennourmous difference in my computer's speed and functionality.

THanks for a good article and now I am going to have to decide whether to buy a new motherboard when I buy the new graphics cards as I admit to being on of those weak early consumers of tech products, althhough I am getting better when it comes to Intel's cpu's now that they have become a CPU of the month club. Reply

Default voltage is 1.45V, and the available voltage scale provides an overvoltage of 0.025-0.775V. There an actual undervoltage of 0.2V from the BIOS set overvoltage. For example, as the stock voltage is set to 1.45V a BIOS setting of +0.50V would imply a voltage of 1.95V. However setting +0.50V gives an actual voltage of 1.75V, suggesting an undervoltage of 0.2V. "

The default voltage of X38/X48 is 1.25v (and in the article explaining tRD values , states that also) , the gigabyte in fact OVERvoltages MCH , when set to normal , to 1.45volt , but when adjusting values, it sets correct values (multimetered) e.g. +0.125 ->~ 1.38v Reply

I have the x48 ddr2 version. Normally the NB heatsink is too hot to keep my fingers on it. So if you run less voltage the heatsink should be cooler to the touch. Which is what happened. I set the overvolt for the MCH to 0.025 then rebooted. Waited a few min and I was able to hold my fingers to the heatsink without burning. I did this 2 more times to be sure.

Surprised no one has found this before. That explains why the NB heatsink was crazy hot.

Is Gigabyte paying Anandtech for front-cover "pseudo-advertising"? I though Anandtech exclusively reviewed quality products. Seems as if the pre-fitering within Anandtech of products for review needs to be strengthened.

This review is so full of wishful thinking about future BIOS updates (whhich may never materialize) that I want to scream. Surely there are computer-related products in a far more mature state begging for serious technical reviews? Reply

At least the preview/review let's people know what to expect at present. I guess I am wishful, because I hate to see good products go to waste via an inadequate BIOS. Immediate maturity with top-end performance boards (the reviews I concentrate on) is hard to find, almost impossible in fact. Occasionally we find a gem, when we do, we write about it. Not every board that comes down the channel is going to make the masses happy, especially in this segment. It's one of the toughest segments of all, the budget minded will never be happy with it. But then these products are not aimed at the budget segment at all. In the PC world there's no such thing as linear performance scaling per dollar. This board needed a 2 stage review, because fo the length of time the cascade cooled results can take. Where this may not be the typical approach, the performance boards are used by a percentage of this crowd. The rest is the more stable down to earth stuff which we endeavour to cover with the BIOS guides. It just so happens this all fell in with the Christmas season, when most companies go into shutdown.

We review these boards in a way that the people who have the dollar or inclination to spend this kind of money will use them, no more, no less.

We could have posted similar results with the N2 BIOS, the only problem being that this BIOS will never see the light of day and is designed for one thing and one thing only, high FSB rates at the expense of everything else. Hell, we could have posted the same screenshots that Gigabyte engineering sent us, but what fun is that.

While it is nice to see those results, it is not exactly fair to post such results without notifying a potential buyer as to how and why they were obtained. Retail E8400s and the latest public release BIOS for this board resulted in max "stable" FSB rates around 520, sure we could do suicide shots and run SPi1M at 550, but try playing Crysis or encoding a movie at those settings. ;) Reply

I am a Vintage IBM Keyboard fanatic and won't buy a motherboard that does not have PS2 ports, I know there are USB adapters out there but they don't really work as well as a real integrated controller. Gigabyte is my Hero!

Two ports for FW400? No ports for FW 800? I can hear the defense swarming now. No one uses FW800, etc., etc. Fewer people use it, true. Perhaps that is due to the fact that Motherboard manufacturers are refusing to provide it, requiring you to buy an add-on board if you don't buy a Mac. Reply

From 2k2 to 2k4 I had 3 different gigabyte boards literally fail. Cmos would not clear them, they just physically failed. So my experiences with this manufacturer have left me with some disappointing experience, and I won't buy their products again. I'm sure other people have had better experiences, but for me 3 different boards that were 3 different models failing is enough for me to blackflag them on my money expenditures. I hope they've improved in reliability for it lasting more than a year, but from the looks of this review, they're struggling with it just functioning correctly with all of the included features. Personal opinion, asus, abit, even shuttle would be a better spend in the long run. Reply

I’m highly disappointed in AnandTech and its blatant disregard of its loyal readers. There is no excuse for the 9-day “holiday” break in which no articles/reviews were posted.

I can already hear the writers whine in unison: “Are we not entitled to vacation time to enjoy the holidays?” To which I respond: Is everyday not a vacation for the slothful slackers that write for this site?
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Why don't you go back to playing your Nintendo 64 and let mommy tuck you in tonight. Every single post you have around here is negative and constantly attacks the editors or readers. If you have that big of a problem, go to another site or start your own. I would love to comment on your first article. Anyway, if they want to take a vacation, so be it, everyone needs one at least once a year. Reply

This makes no sense. Gigabyte offers GTL controls on the P31-DS3L, values are: 0.636, 0.603, 0.566, 0.54. Why offer them on a $80 budget board but not a ~$300 X48T end-of-the-world board?? I was expecting them to be there when I heard about the redesign.

This was a great review, and I am still reading/rereading it to absorb the info. I had a few questions though... You said FSB Overvoltage control requires 1.4v for both processors, and stock is 1.15v?? I never touched this setting by more than +1 with my Q6600, but it might explain a few things. How or where did you find out what the stock VTT value was, as I wish to be able to look up this info myself for future reference and check the P35 version. Reply

Thanks for your reply! Are there any guides or what do you recommend for novice multimeter users trying to discern which mainboard components power what. I don't mind doing the research, I just need a pointer at where to get started. I have tried before but was not sure if I was measuring the correct components.

When can we buy an X48 Motherboard, along with a Q9450 cpu? How can you give such a comprehensive preview, and talk about recommendations without addressing a release date?

If some of the rumors are true about X48/Wolfdale/Yorkfield being delayed to possibly march, then wouldn't it be irrelevant to speak about recommending this product 2-3 months before it will even be available?

ETA of the X48 boards is unknown. They are ready, from a BIOS viewpoint the Gigabyte boards need some more work but the ASUS boards that will be reviewed next week are about 97% there. Boards have been manufactured by all of the majors, it is up to Intel to pull the trigger. It was going to be in December, moved to 1/7/08, moved to 1/21/08, and is now in a holding pattern waiting on X38 stocks to clear out to some degree, which is surprising as most of the suppliers will move X38 downward to replace the mid-market P35 boards.

The Q9450 and others will be announced shortly and official launch dates will be available at that time. Once again, up to Intel, but after the Phenom launch, they have no real reason to hurry up. The reason for the previews is provide just that, a preview, but we were expecting (along with Gigabyte/ASUS/MSI) that boards would be launched by the 21st of this month. Reply

Good review on the BIOS features, i've been looking for this kind of detail for each timing number to be explained for a while, as none of this information is in the Gigabyte manual for any of their motherboards (HINT HINT).

Anyways, you forgot to explain one really important number that i have been wondering about for a while, the Refresh to ACT Delay. Can someone please explain this number, either update the review or post it here, it would be much appreciated. I noticed that they had it set to 60 in the review, and there is no Auto option inherent in the motherboard's bios for this number, and i have no clue what it does. Thanks! Reply

Looks like Anands crew spent plenty of time with this board! Amazing that no comparison benchmarks are shown against more mainstream boards like 965s, P35s or some AMD flavors? All that work with very little usefullness outside of early adoptee's! Reply

We will have a Intel chipset comparison roundup the week of the 28th, maybe earlier if Intel decides to launch this product according to the last timeline. We will have the ASUS X48 boards up next week with a very detailed MCH overview and the MSI X48 board the week after with some Quad CrossFire loving if the drivers make it. These previews are concentrating on getting the most out of the board, the roundup will concentrate on comparisons to other available products. Reply

this isn't a typical mobo and it's not being reviewed as such. this article is testing the limits of highest-end board with the highest-end cpus. comparing it to 965 or p35 based mobos makes no sense since a) it's twice as expensive when ram is conisdered and b) the buyer for this type of hardware wants the absolute best performance possible and not the best bang for the buck. Reply